I have severe depression symptoms that are cyclic in nature; that is, they appear around the time of ovulation and last for a few days and then disappear (until next month). The main symptom is crying -- I start crying for no real reason, sometimes even in public. I am also more irritable and unable to sleep much.
My doctor said I was depressed and gave me Effexor, which helped but made me jittery so I stopped taking it after a week. (No withdrawal, BTW -- I understand it can be a b*tch.) The thing is, I'm only 'depressed' for a few days out of each month. I don't want to take Effexor every day when its side effects bother me. However, the Effexor did help me on the days that I was PMSing -- I was not crying, for instance.
My question is: is there any type of medication that can be taken just a few days out of a month to help with this kind of cyclic depression? It seems to me that most anti-depressants are prescribed long-term for each and every day. Also, I know that many of them take a long time to have an effect. The Effexor seemed to help me right away.
Thanks,
Anne